Bag closing and sealing apparatus



March 9, 1954 c W VOGT BAG CLOSING AND SEALING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 26, 1948 INVENTOR Clarence? ATTORNEYS March 9, 1954 c w VOGT BAG CLOSING AND SEALING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 26, 1948 lNVENTOR U/arezzce I17. V0 5 BY 49 7MWLATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 9, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OF F'ICE 2,6'7l,586 BAG CLOSING AND SEALING APPARATUS.

Clarence W; Vogt, Norwalk, Conn.

Application June 26., 1948, SerialNo. 35,405

9 Claims. 1.

This invention relates. to methods and apparatus for use in the. filling and sealing of bags, and more particularly bags. of the general type disclosed and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 30,647., filed June 2, 1948, now Patent No. 2,628,013. In that. application there are disclosed and claimed various forms of bags connected together in. pairs, at their open ends, whereby the pair may be supported by the connecting portion and the bags depend therefrom with their open ends uppermost, whereby they may be: easily filled and sealed.

The bags may be of small size and of heat-seal.- able, transparent, non-porous material, so that. when filled they may serve as ampules for serum or hypodermic injection, or may be of larger size and with the heat-scalable or thermoplastic material forming the liningof the. bag for shipment, storage or'sale. of small articles tobe kept sterile or otherwise protected; or they may be used for moisture-containing products such as fresh vegetables and other articles of food to be kept fresh and clean, or for cooked or partially cooked foods such as fruits, meats, vegetables, catsup, etc.., which, are usually preserved in glass or metal con tainers. They may also be of aper with top ortions including heat-scalable. material on the inner surface at the. mouths of the bags, whereby the. bags may be sealed after fil-ling In properly selected forms they are adapted for factory or home. use.

By means of my present: invention a pair or bags. may be. filled while the bags are suspended or positioned, at least. in part, by the connecting portion, and substantially upright. When filled to the. desired extent, or. with. a predetermined amount. of liquid, granular, powdered, or other type of material, the. bag support cooperates with, or does not interfere with, means for pressing together the opposite sides of the mouths or open ends of the pair of bags and the applying of heat. to tightly close and seal the bags;

The. material may be weighed or measured out inpredetermined portions before being delivered into the bags, or the bag support. may be placed on or used in connection with a weighing appa ratus. such as a platform scale, or the apparatus itself may include weighing mechanism, so that the amount of the charge delivered to the bag maybe accurately determined.

In carrying out my invention I provide a bag support upon which the connected pair of bags maybe; suspended, and provide means. whereby pressure. and heat maybe applied to. close. the. bag ends while they are so supported, held or posi-' tioned.

In the accompanying drawings there are. i11lus' trated certain embodiments of my invention. In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one, form of apparatus, the bag support part being shown. inunper position.

Fig- 2 is. a vertical section on the line 2.2. 0i Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a. section in. a plane, at right angles. to the plane of Fig. 2., and showing a pair of bags suspended on the. bag support.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to a, portion. of 3., and showing the. parts the. position occupied. when closing and heat. sealing the. mouths, of the bags.

Figs. 5. and 6 are perspective views of other and simpler forms of the apparatus, and

Fig. '7 is a perspective. view of a simple form of heat sealing device.

The construction. shownin Figs. 1. to. 4 inclur sive may be formed of metal, and includes.- a shal low vertical box-like body portion. made 01'. sheet metal and provided with a. base. The. width. and height of this body portion should be slightly greater than. that. of the longest bag to be filled...

Onesection includes a plate ll) with side flanges l I and a base flangei I2, and the other section includes a. plate portion L3 with a, similar base flange It. The two sections may be secured to. gether in any suitable; manner, as for instance by tongues 15 on the; plate I3, and extending through openings in the plate. [0.

Mounted. within the body is a bagsupport which may be formed of a stiff wire, and which. in the formshown is vertically mevable in re.- spect to the. body of the device... This; wire.- has a transverse bar section 1.6-. of a. length. somewhat. greater than the width of a collapsed bag, and. with upstanding loops I! for centering the, bag; in respect to the. body. From these loops. there are downwardly extending postsec-tions; l8 verti" cally slidable. in the casing. The plate 131 has inwardly extending flanges l9 and. 2.0 disposed closely adjacenttotheside flanges. it of the other plate id, andbent tov form outwardly facing; grooves cooperating with the flanges H to guide the post section t8 of. the bag support, The. lower en s of the. post sections is are connected by a. transverse. section 21;, and the mid-portion of this may be connected by a. spring 22 for normally holding; the. bag support; in the. raised position shown in Figs. 1 and 2'.

Also mounted within the casing is. a. member for applying: heat, and pressure: tn the two sus pended. bags. adjacent: to. the. upper ends thereof. ms is shown as a heating element 23 of bar shape, and extending parallel to the bag support I6 but below the latter and normally disposed within the casing. For supporting this heating element and moving it into and out of operative position, the ends are connected by a transverse bar 24 with its midportion secured to a vertically movable slide 25. This may be provided with slots and guided on pins 26 carried by the front wall of the casing. The upper end of the spring 22 may be secured to a hook 21 on the upper end of this slide 25, and the lower end of the slide may be pivotally connected to a lever 28 extending through and pivoted in one of the end wall flanges l I. Thus the operator, by depressing the outer end of this lever, may raise the heating element 23 from the position shown in Fig. 2 to a position above the upper end of the body, and into pressing and heating engagement with the bags suspended on the bag support 15. The resistance coil in the heating element 23 may be connected by wires 29 leading through one end wall of the casing, and to a suitable switch and source of electrical energy. The circuit may be kept closed during the bag filling and sealing of successive pairs of bags.

The inside surfaces of the plates l0 and 13 may be covered with insulation at the upper portion to prevent undue heating of the casing by the heating element 23, but ordinarily this is not necessary as the walls of the casing may have narrow inwardly extending ridges I0 and i3 or strips of insulation which prevent contact of the heating element with the plates except at said ridges, guides or strips.

The movable parts of the apparatus are normally in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and in use a pair of bags 13 connected together at their open ends, are suspended on the bag support l6 by the connecting portion C, and will lie against the opposite walls l0 and I3 of the casing. This connecting portion may be integral with the bag walls, but as shown, is a transverse strip C with opposite edge portions adhesively secured to the outer surface of the walls of two bags. Strips D of paper or the like may be adhesively secured to the outer side wall close to the mouth. The bags may be of satchel or square bottom type with opposite infoldable walls, or may be of any other suitable form.

As the bags are filled and the weight on the bag support increases, this support may gradually lower. The weight of the bags may be sufficient to lower the bar l6 against the action of the spring, or the first portion of material admitted to the bag may lower them until the bottoms engage the base flanges I2 and I4. For shorter bags, auxiliary and removable flanges or shelves I2 and I4 may be provided and carried by the side plates I0 and [3.

During this down-movement of the bag support Hi, the spring 22 will be extended, and if desired, the bags need not descend to the flanges l2 and 14 or the removable flanges [2 and M and the weight of the material filled into the bags may be determined by the extent to which the spring 22 is distorted and the extent to which the bag support 16 is lowered. On Fig. 1 there is indicated a scale adjacent to a slot 31 in the wall I0, and a pointer 32 connected to one of the posts I8 is positioned adjacent to this scale so that the extent to which the bag support It is lowered, and therefore the weight of the contents delivered into the two bags, may be read on the scale 30. If desired one bag may be supported in the hand, so that the weight of the contents of the other bag will be indicated on the scale 30. If desired, this weighing feature may be omitted and the entire device placed on an ordinary platform scale. After noting the weight of the apparatus plus the empty bags, the bags may be filled until the weight increases to the predetermined extent corresponding to the desired amount of material placed in the bags.

As above noted, the Weight of the bags and contents is preferably not supported primarily by the bar H5. The apparatus is preferably so proportioned and designed that for one length of bag the bottom of the bag may rest on the base flanges l2 and [4. For shorter bags, the removable flanges or supports may be positioned at the required elevation. As shown, the side wall 3 may have pairs of slots 33 at different elevations, and the bag supporting flanges l2 and 14 may have hanger hooks 12 and 14 which may be hooked into the slots 33 to form shelves at the proper elevation of the length of the bags to be filled. The overall lengths of the bags shorten up during filling, and the bag ends may engage the supports l2 and 14 at the beginning of the filling operation. As the bags expand and shorten during filling the support l6 lowers and stretches the spring 20 so that when the bags are filled their weight is supported primarily at their bottoms.

When the bags are filled to the desired extent they are closed and heat-sealed. The bags may be closed by hand and a suitable clamp placed over the open ends of the bags and the bag support [6. Thus the open ends of both bags are pressed together below the bag support. As shown, there is provided a spring clip having a pair of finger pieces 34 terminating in clamping edges 34, and connected to and normally pressed together by a spring 35. By pressing the finger pieces 34 together, the clamping edges will be spaced apart to a distance greater than the thickness of the bag support [6 and the ends of the bags, and lowered to bring the clamping edges below the support [6. Upon releasing the pressure on the finger pieces the opposite walls of both bags may be tightly pressed together at a point below the bag support I6.

With the bags thus closed, the lever 28 may be depressed to lift the heating and pressing element 23 up out of the casing, and to a point where it will tightly press the bag walls together and against the clamp.

As the bags are formed of or lined, at least at the mouth portion, with a thermoplastic material, or have thermoplastic strips at around or above the mouth portion, the heat and pressure applied by the heating element 23 will hermetically seal the opposite walls of the bags together. As soon as the sealing is effected, the heating element may be dropped down into the casing, the clamp removed, and the filled and sealed bags taken off from the bag support. They may then be separated by cutting or tearing the connection B between the bags or pulling off said strips, or the bags may be stored, shipped or sold as connected filled pairs.

By means of my improved apparatus a pair of connected bags may be filled with the desired amount of liquid, solid or other material, and the bags closed and hermetically sealed for storage, shipment and sale.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a simple form of bag support comprising a wood block 3! having inclined sides 38 meeting in a narrow bar portion 39 on which a pair of connected bags may be amass suspended. If desired, the inclined sides mayhave pockets 50 into which the bags mayextend, so that the bags when suspended will be more nearly vertical than are the inclined sides 38, and still the block will have a wide base to give greater stability.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a bag support formed of a stiif sheet of double faced corrugated board folded to form a bag supporting bar portion 39 inclined side walls 33 and a base 48 comprisingthe overlapped ends of the sheet. These ends may be detachably connected by a tongue 42 in one end and a slot 41 in the other to permit sep aration or collapsing when not in use, or they may be stapled or glued together.

The surface of the bar portion may be so treated that the bags will not adhere thereto during or after heating. This treatment may be with a silicone.

For sealing the bags after being filled while on a support such as shown in Figs. and 6, one may use a simple form, of clamp which is capable of being heated. In Fig. '7' I have shown such a heating clamp, which includes two plate members 43 hinged together, and each including an electric resistance element. By pressing the plate members together to clamp the opposite wall of both bags together to close the bags and to press them against opposite sides of the bag support 39 or 39*, the heat of the resistance elements will cause the thermoplastic mouth portions of the bags to be hermetically sealed before removing them from the support.

The device shown in Figs. 1 to 4 may be used for supporting two or more pairs of bags at the same time on the bar It, provided they are not too wide; or the device shown in said figures may be made with the supporting bar I6 much longer, for supporting a series of such pairs. When supporting a plurality of pairs of bags, they may be filled and sealed in succession, or may be advanced along the supporting bar from a filling position to a sealing position.

The devices shown in Figs. 5 and 6 may also be made much longer for a plurality of pairs of bags, and the bags of each pair may be connected to those of the adjacent pairs by strips of paper, tape or other suitable material. pair connecting means may be integral with the connection between the open ends of the bags of each pair, or they may be strips adhesively secured to the side walls of the bags, or the bags themselves may be connected by a spot of sealable adhesive such as one made of a latex base, adjacent to the mouths, so that they may be readily pulled apart after filling. When adjacent pairs of bags are so connected they may be fed along the supporting bar from a filling position to a sealing position, and the connecting strips between successive pairs may be employed for pulling the pairs along the support. If the connecting strips be on the outer walls of the bags they may be employed for pulling open the upper ends of the bags before the latter reach the filling position. Such strips will automatically open the bags of one pair during the filling and distending of the bags of the preceding pair. Such series of connected pairs of bags are shown in my prior application above referred to.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for supporting, closing and sealing a pair of bags connected together at their Such upper open ends and havingthermoplastic material at said open ends, said apparatus including a base and a horizontal bar portion formed thereon for engaging the underside of the connection between the bags and holding the bags upright with their open ends in spaced relation during filling, means for maintaining the walls of the bags closed under pressure, and means on the base for engaging a wall of each bag of the pair and applying heat thereto to close and seal the bags.

2. An apparatus for supporting, closing and sealing a pair of bags connected together at their upper open ends and having thermoplastic, material at said open ends, said apparatus including a base and a horizontal bar portion formed thereon for engaging the underside of the connection between the bags and holding the bags upright with their open ends in spaced relation during filling, bag supporting surfaces upon opposite sides of the base, means for maintaining the Walls of the bags closed under pressure, and means on the base for engaging a wall of each bag of the pair and applying heat thereto.

3-. An apparatus for supporting a pair of bags connected together at their upper open ends, and for closing and sealing said bags after filling, said apparatus including a body member, an upwardly extending horizontal bag support carried by said body member for engaging the connection between the bags and holding said bags upright during filling, a heating element Within said body member, means for maintaining the walls of the bags closed under pressure, and means to move the heating member toward the bag support to engage the underside of the pair of bags to apply heat thereto to seal together opposite walls thereof.

4. An apparatus for supporting a pair of bags connected together at their upper open ends, and for closing and sealing said bags after filling, said apparatus including a body member, an upwardly extending horizontal bag support carried by said body member for engaging the underside of the connection between the bags and supporting said bags during filling, means for closing the upper open ends of said bags, a heating element within the body member, and means for moving the heating element toward the bag support to en gage the underside of the upper ends of the pair of bags to seal together the walls of said bags after closing.

5. An apparatus for supporting a pair of bags connected together at their upper open ends, and for closing and sealing said bags after filling, said apparatus including a body member, a horizontal bag supporting bar mounted in the body member with provision for vertical movement with respect thereto, a spring between the bar and body for normally holding said bar in an upper position and yieldingly assisting lowering of said bar by the weight of the material delivered into said bags while so supported, means for maintaining the walls of the bags closed under pressure, and a heating element mounted on the body member for engaging the underside of the connection between said bags adjacent to their top portions when said bar and bags are in lowered position, to seal together opposite Walls of said bags at their upper ends.

6. An apparatus for supporting a pair of bags connected together at their upper open ends, and for closing and sealing said bags after filling, said apparatus including a body member, a horizontal bar for engaging the connection between said bags at their upper open ends, means for mounting the bar slidably on the body member, means for yieldingly supporting said bar to cause the bar and bags to be lowered during filling, means for closing the bags, and means on the body member for heat-sealing together opposite walls of said bags at their upper ends after closmg.

7. An apparatus for supporting a pair of bags connected together at their upper open ends, and for closing and sealing said bags after filling, said apparatus including a body member, a horizontal bar for engaging the connection between said bags at their upper open ends, means for mounting the bar slidably on the body member, means for yieldingly supporting said bar to cause the bar and bags to be lowered during filling, means for closing the bags, heating means, and means mounting the heating means on the body member to move upwardly between said bags for engaging the closed upper ends to apply heat and pressure to seal said bags.

8. An apparatus for supporting a pair of bags connected together at their upper open ends and sealing said ends of said bags after filling, said apparatus including a body member, a horizontal bar member mounted on the body member for engaging the connection between said bags at their upper ends, means on the body member for supporting the bottoms of said bags, means for maintaining the walls of the bags closed under pressure, and a heating member mounted on the body member and movable upwardly between said bags for applying heat to seal together the opposite walls of each of said bags at said upper ends.

9. An apparatus, as defined in claim 8, and in which said means for supporting the bottoms of the bags is adjustable vertically to support bags of different heights.

CLARENCE W. VOGT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 299,609 Wood June 3, 1884 2,281,187 Waters Apr. 28, 1942 2,356,472 Rothaug Aug. 22, 1944 

